Blaming Islam and assuming that all Muslims read the Koran and march off to stereotypical armed jihad is tempting these days, especially if you are trying to gain a national reputation or sell your latest book.

Hating and demonizing Islam has become intellectualized, not for any truly intellectual reasons, but for the simple reason that the best way to gain publicity, that coveted byline or interview, is by hating Islam.

Until Franklin Graham called the religion that I have been in my entire life "evil and wicked," I, along with most Americans, had never heard of him. Similarly, Patrick Buchanan has achieved rock-star status with his latest book,

"Death of the West," simply by hitching his wagon to the anti-Islam star. Neatly inserting his usual anti-immigration and anti-Latino rhetoric into the general and valid discussion of how to prevent the tragic Sept. 11 terrorist attacks from happening again, Buchanan has made himself relevant again.

Buchanan would like us to believe that Islam and the West are on a collision course, and you can read all about it once you buy his book. He and Graham have turned Sept. 11 into an opportunity to re-introduce their shallow theories.

I'd fault Buchanan and Graham for their ignorance and profiteering off of a national tragedy, but they aren't alone. Every benignly bigoted commentator, it seems, is in on the act. Writers Andrew Sullivan and Salman Rushdie, whose new book, "Fury," was recently published, also are putting on pseudo- intellectual airs with their "analyses" of Muslims as violent and intolerant.

Besides quoting the Koran out of context, these profiteers ignore the historical context of the Koran, translation conflicts, as well as overall themes and often the very next line in the verse, which exhorts Muslims to forgive those who wrong them.

By sprinkling your interview, speech or opinion article with a few Koranic verses or stories about Palestinians cheering on Sept. 11 and a "Blame Islam" headline, no one will notice your intellectual dishonesty and double-talk. But they will notice you.

If any of these people actually understood what they purport to have expertise on, I would not mind so much. But it's obvious to me that many have just picked up a copy of the Koran at their local bookstore and anointed themselves experts after scanning the index for the word "kill" and "infidel."

The fiction that Muslims are inherently violent accommodates sensationalist debate. In fact, most American Muslims -- both immigrant and indigenous -- are opposed to terrorism and other forms of violence according to a December poll by Zogby International. The poll, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, found that 84 percent of America's 7 million Muslims favor stronger anti-terrorism laws and 79 percent favor stronger restrictions on gun ownership.

But why would the profiteers concern themselves with such details?

Buchanan and Graham are lightweights in comparison to the damage caused by Sullivan's and Rushdie's profiteering. Simply because of their reputation as "intellectuals," these two writers lend authenticity to the profiteers and the "Clash of Civilization" proponents.

Our media have empowered those who profit from hate. Instead, we need to reach out to the very people Buchanan and Graham want to profit at the expense of.

Mosques all around the country have been holding a record number of open houses to reach out to people, to do the very opposite of the Islam profiteers -- to love.

Hating Islam is sexy now. Embracing Islam by meeting and learning about Muslims will be both more satisfying and a wiser long-term policy. I wish that when I was a little girl attending Catholic school, the president or someone of similar stature had reached out to Muslims the way President Bush has, extolling the values of Islam and distinguishing between terrorists and the majority of Muslims.

We should honor the victims of Sept. 11 by being proud of our country and its unprecedented diversity. In fact, most Americans have seen through the profiteers' ruse.

According to a recent ABC News/Beliefnet poll, 41 percent of Americans view Islam favorably, compared to 24 percent unfavorable, and 57 percent do not believe Islam promotes violence, while only 14 percent do.

We stand as a shining beacon to the rest of the world that differences -- in opinion, in ethnicity, in religion, in class, in gender -- and the celebration of those differences, are what make us uniformly strong.